Who Needs Migrant Workers?

Labour Shortages, Immigration, and Public Policy

Edited by Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson

Contributions and analysis from experts who have advised the UK's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on the nature and determinants of staff shortages and immigration policy

Highlights how demand for migrant workers can be linked to wider policies and economic/social systems that are heavily influenced by the state, and are outside the direct control of employers and workers

Helps the reader identify the key conceptual issues and questions in the debate about shortages and immigration policy

Includes quantitative and qualitative approaches within a unified conceptual framework

Includes commentaries on main chapters provided by leading academics

Immigration remains a hot topic in the UK. The Government has made many changes to the UK's labor immigration policies. Public consultations are underway that receive very large numbers of submissions (the government's consultation on the cap on labor immigration had more than 30,000 submissions).

Who Needs Migrant Workers?

Labour Shortages, Immigration, and Public Policy

Edited by Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson

Description

Are migrant workers needed to 'do the jobs that locals will not do' or are they simply a more exploitable labour force? Do they have a better "work ethic" or are they less able to complain? Is migrant labor the solution to 'skills shortages' or actually part of the problem? This book provides a comprehensive framework for analysing the demand for migrant workers in high-income countries. It demonstrates how a wide range of government policies, often unrelated to migration, contribute to creating a growing demand for migrant labor. This demand can persist even during economic downturns. The book includes quantitative and qualitative analyses of the changing role of migrants in the UK economy. The empirical chapters include in-depth examinations of the nature of staff shortages and the use of migrant workers in six sectors: health; social care; hospitality; food production; construction; and financial services.

The book's conceptual framework and empirical findings are of importance to academic and policy debates about labour immigration in all high-income countries. The final chapter presents a comparative analysis of research and policy approaches to assessing labor shortages in the UK and the U.S. The book will be of significant interest to policy-makers, stakeholders, academics and students.

Who Needs Migrant Workers?

Labour Shortages, Immigration, and Public Policy

Edited by Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson2. Migrant workers: who needs them? A framework for the analysis of shortages, immigration, and public policy, Bridget Anderson and Martin RuhsCommentary by Ken Mayhew3. The changing shares of migrant labour in different sectors and occupation in the UK economy: An overview, Vanna Aldin, Dan James and Jonathan Wadsworth4. Achieving a self-sufficient workforce? The utilization of migrant labour in healthcare, Stephen BachCommentary by Robert Elliott5. Competing with myths: migrant labour in social care, Jo MoriartyCommentary by Alessio Cangiano6. The use of migrant labour in the hospitality sector: current and future implications, Rosemary Lucas and Steven MansfieldCommentary by Linda McDowell7. UK food businesses' reliance on low-wage migrant labour: A case of choice or constraint?, Andrew Geddes and Sam ScottCommentary by Ben Rogaly8. The dynamics of migrant employment in construction: Can supply of skilled labour ever match demand?, Paul Chan, Linda Clarke and Andy DaintyCommentary by Howard Gospel9. Immigration and the UK labour market in financial services: A case of conflicting policy challenges?, Andrew JonesCommentary by Jonathan Beaverstock10. A need for migrant labour? UK-US comparisons, Philip Martin

Who Needs Migrant Workers?

Labour Shortages, Immigration, and Public Policy

Edited by Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson

Author Information

Martin Ruhs' research focuses on the economics and politics of labor immigration, with a strong international comparative dimension. Recent publications include 'Economic Research and Labour Immigration Policy' and 'Semi-compliance and illegality in migrant labour markets.' Martin is a member of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), a highly influential body of independent academic economists advising the UK government on labor immigration policy. He was Specialist Adviser to a recent House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee Inquiry into the economic impacts of immigration in the UK. He has provided migration policy analysis and advice for various national governments and international institutions including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Bridget Anderson's research interests include low waged labor migration, legal status, and citizenship. Publications include 'Migrants and Work Related Rights' (Ethics and International Affairs 2008), and Doing the Dirty Work? The global politics of Domestic Labour (Zed Books 2000). She has worked with the Trades Union Congress, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the International Labour Organisation, and a wide range of national and international NGOs.

Who Needs Migrant Workers?

Labour Shortages, Immigration, and Public Policy

Edited by Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson

Reviews and Awards

"In the current context of immigration caps, the politicization of migration and issues around the failures of multiculturalism, [this book contributes] a balanced and nuanced set of insights to these important debates."--Work, Employment & Society